Display device and electronic apparatus

This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0147092, filed on Nov. 5, 2020, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

One or more embodiments relate to display devices having transmission areas and electronic apparatuses including the display devices.

Recently, the use of a display device has become wider. Furthermore, as the thickness and weight of a display device decrease, the range of use thereof is expanding.

While expanding an area occupied by a display area in a display device, various functions combined with, or linked to, the display device are added. As a method of expanding the area and adding various functions, a display device having an area in the display area that is not only for a function of displaying an image, but is also for various functions, has been continuously developed.

A display device and an electronic apparatus according to the related art have a problem in that the display quality or component performance deteriorates due to reflected light.

One or more embodiments of the present disclosure include a high quality display device, which have a transmission area for transmitting light as an area for adding various functions located in a display area, and an electronic apparatus including the display device. However, this is merely an example, and the scope of the disclosure is not limited thereto.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure.

According to an aspect of one or more embodiments, a display device includes a substrate including a first display area, a second display area including transmission areas, and a non-display area, main pixel electrodes above the first display area, auxiliary pixel electrodes above the second display area, and a shield layer between the substrate and the auxiliary pixel electrodes, including a first metal layer, and at least one reflection reduction layer overlapping the first metal layer, and defining an opening overlapping the transmission areas.

The at least one reflection reduction layer may include a light-absorbing layer between the first metal layer and the substrate, and having a light absorption rate that is greater than a light absorption rate of the first metal layer.

The light-absorbing layer may include amorphous silicon.

When viewed in a direction that is perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate, an edge of the first metal layer may be aligned with an edge of the light-absorbing layer.

The at least one reflection reduction layer may include a second metal layer under the first metal layer, and an inorganic material layer between the first metal layer and the second metal layer.

A thickness of the second metal layer in a direction that is perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate may be less than a thickness of the first metal layer in the same direction.

The first metal layer and the second metal layer may include a same material.

The at least one reflection reduction layer may further include a light-absorbing layer between the first metal layer and the inorganic material layer, and having a light absorption rate that is greater than a light absorption rate of the first metal layer.

The light-absorbing layer may include amorphous silicon.

When viewed in a direction that is perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate, an edge of the first metal layer may be aligned with an edge of the light-absorbing layer and with an edge of the inorganic material layer.

The substrate may include a first base layer, a first barrier layer on the first base layer, a second base layer on the first barrier layer, a second barrier layer on the second base layer, and a third barrier layer on the second barrier layer, and having a refractive index that is less than a refractive index of the second barrier layer.

The at least one reflection reduction layer may include a high refractive layer between the first metal layer and the third barrier layer, and having a refractive index that is greater than a refractive index of the third barrier layer.

A difference between a refractive index of the third barrier layer and a refractive index of the second barrier layer may be greater than or equal to about 0.3, wherein a difference between the refractive index of the third barrier layer and a refractive index of the high refractive layer is greater than or equal to about 0.3.

When viewed in a direction that is perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate, an edge of the high refractive layer may be aligned with an edge of the first metal layer.

The at least one reflection reduction layer may further include a light-absorbing layer between the first metal layer and the high refractive layer, and having a light absorption rate that is greater than a light absorption rate of the first metal layer.

The light-absorbing layer may include amorphous silicon.

When viewed in a direction that is perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate, an edge of the first metal layer may be aligned with an edge of the light-absorbing layer and an edge of the high refractive layer.

The display device may further include a lower surface absorption layer on a lower surface of the substrate, and overlapping the shield layer when viewed in a direction that is perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate.

The lower surface absorption layer may include a molybdenum tantalum oxide (MTO).

The display device may further include a lower surface inorganic material layer on a lower surface of the lower surface absorption layer.

According to another aspect of one or more embodiments, an electronic apparatus includes a display panel including a first display area, a second display area including transmission areas, and a non-display area, and a component overlapping the second display area, wherein the display panel includes a substrate, main pixel electrodes above the first display area, auxiliary pixel electrodes above the second display area, and a shield layer between the substrate and the auxiliary pixel electrodes, including a first metal layer and at least one reflection reduction layer overlapping the first metal layer, and defining an opening overlapping the transmission areas.

The at least one reflection reduction layer may include a light-absorbing layer between the first metal layer and the substrate, and having a light absorption rate that is greater than a light absorption rate of the first metal layer.

The at least one reflection reduction layer may include a second metal layer under the first metal layer, and an inorganic material layer between the first metal layer and the second metal layer.

The substrate may include a first base layer, a first barrier layer on the first base layer, a second base layer on the first barrier layer, a second barrier layer on the second base layer, and a third barrier layer on the second barrier layer, and having a refractive index less than a refractive index of the second barrier layer, wherein the at least one reflection reduction layer includes a high refractive layer between the first metal layer and the third barrier layer, and having a refractive index that is greater than a refractive index of the third barrier layer.

The display panel may further include a lower surface absorption layer on a lower surface of the substrate, and overlapping the shield layer when viewed in a direction that is perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate.

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, the present embodiments may have different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, the embodiments are merely described below, by referring to the figures, to explain aspects of the present description. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Throughout the disclosure, the expression “at least one of a, b or c” indicates only a, only b, only c, both a and b, both a and c, both b and c, all of a, b, and c, or variations thereof.

Various modifications may be applied to the present embodiments, and particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in the detailed description section. The effect and features of the present embodiments, and a method to achieve the same, will be clearer referring to the detailed descriptions below with the drawings. However, the present embodiments may be implemented in various forms, not by being limited to the embodiments presented below.

The disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the disclosure are shown. Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals denote like elements. In the following description, when detailed descriptions about related well-known functions or structures are determined to make the gist of the disclosure unclear, the detailed descriptions will be omitted herein.

In the following embodiments, terms such as “first” and “second” are used herein merely to describe a variety of constituent elements, but the constituent elements are not limited by the terms. Such terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one constituent element from another constituent element.

In the following embodiments, an expression used in a singular form in the specification also includes the expression in its plural form unless clearly specified otherwise in context.

In the following embodiments, terms such as “include” or “comprise” may be construed to denote a certain characteristic or constituent element, but may not be construed to exclude the existence of or a possibility of addition of one or more other characteristics or constituent elements.

In the following embodiments, it will be understood that when a component, such as a layer, a film, a region, or a plate, is referred to as being “on” another component, the component can be directly on the other component or intervening components may be present thereon.

In the drawings, sizes of components may be exaggerated or reduced for convenience of explanation. For example, since sizes and thicknesses of components in the drawings are arbitrarily illustrated for convenience of explanation, the following embodiments are not limited thereto.

When embodiments may be implemented differently, a specific process order may be performed differently from the described order. For example, two consecutively described processes may be performed substantially at the same time or performed in an order opposite to the described order.

In the specification, the expressions such as “A or B,” “at least one of A and/or B.” And, “at least one or more of A and/or B” may include all available combinations of items listed together.

In the following embodiments, it will be understood that when a layer, region, or component is referred to as being “connected to” another layer, region, or component, it can be directly connected to the other layer, region, or component or indirectly connected to the other layer, region, or component via intervening layers, regions, or components. For example, in the specification, when a layer, region, or component is referred to as being electrically connected to another layer, region, or component, it can be directly electrically connected to the other layer, region, or component or indirectly electrically connected to the other layer, region, or component via intervening layers, regions, or components.

In the following examples, the x-axis, the y-axis and the z-axis are not limited to three axes of the rectangular coordinate system, and may be interpreted in a broader sense. For example, the x-axis, the y-axis, and the z-axis may be perpendicular to one another, or may represent different directions that are not perpendicular to one another.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

is a schematic perspective view of a display deviceaccording to some embodiments.

As illustrated in, the display deviceaccording to some embodiments may include a display area DA and a non-display area NDA.

The display area DA may include a first display area DAfor displaying a main image, and a second display area DAfor displaying an auxiliary image. The first display area DAmay surround or partially surround at least a part of the second display area DA. For example, the first display area DAmay entirely surround the second display area DA. The first display area DAand the second display area DAmay display an image separately or together. The non-display area NDA, which is an area where no display element is arranged, may be an area that does not display an image. The non-display area NDA may surround at least a part of the display area DA. For example, the non-display area NDA may entirely surround the display area DA.

The display devicehaving the first display area DA, the second display area DA, and the non-display area NDA may be understood as a substrate(see) of the display devicehaving the first display area DA, the second display area DA, and the non-display area NDA.

illustrates that, when viewed in a direction approximately perpendicular to an upper surface of the display device, the second display area DAhaving an approximately circular shape is arranged at the center (e.g., with respect to the x-axis) at an upper side (+y direction) in the first display area DA, and is entirely surrounded by the first display area DA, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, in some embodiments, the second display area DAmay be located in an upper right or upper left side in the first display area DA. Furthermore, the second display area DAmay be located at one side of the display deviceas a bar or notch-type. In this state, one edge of the second display area DAmay match one edge of the first display area DA. In other embodiments, the display devicemay include a plurality of second display areas as the second display area DA. The shapes and sizes of the second display areas DAmay be different from each other. For example, when viewed in a direction approximately perpendicular to the upper surface of the display device, the second display area DAmay have various shapes, such as a circle, an oval, a polygon such as a rectangle, and the like, a star, or a diamond, and the like.